'Cybersecurity incident' shuts down London Drugs stores across Western Canada
All 79 locations of pharmacy and retail chain London Drugs were shut down Sunday after it was the victim of a “cybersecurity incident.”
After more than a year of high food inflation, families gathering this weekend to gobble Thanksgiving dinner may be feeling the pinch after their grocery shopping.
Statistics Canada reported last month that prices for food purchased from stores rose 6.9 per cent in August, down from an 8.5 per cent increase in July but still well above the month's headline inflation rate of four per cent.
“Prices haven't went down, so you're going to continue to see fairly large sticker shock on items and it's making consumers re-think the traditional Thanksgiving meal,” said retail analyst Bruce Winder.
“Some people are going to look at alternatives: is there a cheaper alternative that you can use to cook instead of maybe a turkey? Or do you maybe hold back on the big family gathering a little bit more? Do you make more and buy less from stores?”
Last year, the price of a kilogram of fresh turkey was about $6.59, or $42.84 for a 6.5-kilogram bird, according to the Agri-Food Analytics Lab.
A survey of weekly flyers from major grocery chains in the leadup to Thanksgiving shows some stores have seen a markup for the same product. At Metro, a fresh turkey cost $9.90 per kilogram, while at Sobeys, the price was listed at $7.69.
However, Loblaws' flyer for the week showed the price of a kilogram of fresh turkey was $5.49.
“People aren't going to eliminate the dinner altogether, that's too drastic,” said Winder, noting many consumers “are really up against the wall” with the prices of gas and housing remaining high.
“But they'll look for creative ways (to save). Maybe they do a little more potluck things this year.”
Other items typically on the Thanksgiving menu have also seen year-over-year price increases.
As of August, the retail price per kilogram of potatoes was up 6.8 per cent, while butter has seen a 9.2 per cent jump, according to Statistics Canada. Brown rice was about 6.3 per cent more expensive than last year.
But there's reason to be optimistic, said economist Mike von Massow of the University of Guelph's Ontario Agricultural College, who noted that although food prices are higher than last year, they have started to move in the right direction.
He added that many foods that typically find their way to the Thanksgiving dinner plate are also now in season, so month-over-month price changes should be more favourable for consumers.
“One of the reasons we have Thanksgiving at this time of year is to celebrate and give thanks for the harvest,” von Massow said.
“Because we are in harvest time of year, if you look at mashed potatoes, if you look at apples and apple pie, if you look at pumpkins, and pumpkin pie, all of those are now available locally and in abundance. So we would expect, even in an inflationary time, that prices would come down at this time of year.”
Looking past the holiday, von Massow said it would be beneficial for Canadian shoppers to be open to changes in their typical food purchases if they want to spend less.
“Canadians are very much creatures of habit. If broccoli was in my basket last week, it's likely to be in my basket this week,” he said.
“While it may not help you this weekend for Thanksgiving, thinking about things like stored vegetables, which are produced in Canada - carrots, beets and some of those root vegetables - will give you an opportunity to save money, because you're not buying the fresh stuff that's coming in from the U.S.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2023.
All 79 locations of pharmacy and retail chain London Drugs were shut down Sunday after it was the victim of a “cybersecurity incident.”
Three women diagnosed with HIV after getting 'vampire facial' procedures at an unlicensed medical spa are believed to be the first documented cases of people contracting the virus through a cosmetic procedure using needles.
Elias Lindholm scored 1:02 into overtime and the Vancouver Canucks came all the way back to beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed wide devastation in part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens others and damaging more than 140 buildings.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday described domestic violence as a 'national crisis' after thousands rallied around the country against violence toward women.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Vancouver Canucks when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series Sunday.
U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.